jeff koons announced for BMW’s next art car

BMW 3.0 CSL by alexander calder, 1975

yesterday, BMW announced that american artist jeff koons will design the company’s next art car. as part of the art car series which began in 1975, koons will be the 17th artist to participate  in the program which celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. koons’ predecessors include: alexander calder, david hockney, jenny holzer, roy lichtenstein, robert rauschenberg, frank stella  and andy warhol.

back in 2003, koons had expressed an interest in participating as part of the series. he is known for his carefully fabricated sculptural, video and two-dimensional works that explore notions of consumerism, banality and sexuality, drawing on a variety of kitsch objects and images derived from american and consumer culture. he is best known for his series  of inflatable sculptures, along with his more recent massively-sized metallic sculptures  of balloon dogs. that being said, it’s most likely his design will go beyond just painting the surface of the car with patterns and color.

BMW 3.0 CSL by frank stella, 1976

BMW 320i by roy lichtenstein, 1977

BMW M1 by andy warhol, 1979

BMW 635CSi by robert rauschenberg, 1986

BMW 535i by matazo kayama, 1990

BMW 525i by esther mahlangu, 1991

BMW 850CSi by david hockney, 1995

BMW V12 LMR by jenny holzer, 1999

BMW H2R by olafur eliasson, 2007